Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei participates in the meeting of the CIS Ministerial Council

On October 12, 2022 in Astana, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, participated in the meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers exchanged views on issues on the global and regional agenda. In a confidential manner, the participants discussed and coordinated approaches to deepening multifaceted cooperation within the Commonwealth.

V.Makei paid special attention to the importance of uniting and taking joint efforts on the foreign policy track to counter the attempts of sanctions and other external pressure on the Commonwealth states.

The head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry stressed that the situation when the West arrogates to itself the right to speak on behalf of and decide for the entire world, passing their interests as interest of all the countries, has no prospects. In this light, there is a growing need to strengthen the unity and cohesion of the CIS countries in international organizations, primarily in the UN.

V.Makei once again drew attention of his colleagues and expressed hope that the Commonwealth would support the initiative of Belarus to hold a full-fledged international dialogue on security issues in the spirit of San Francisco.

As a result of the meeting, a number of documents was approved and signed on a number of areas of the CIS cooperation, including in the field of combating corruption, terrorism and extremism, humanitarian, military, sports, and youth cooperation.

On the margins of the Ministerial Council, it was decided to create a Commission of Commissioners for Children's Rights (Ombudsmen) of the Commonwealth countries and the relevant Regulations were approved.

Draft decisions of the Council of CIS Heads of State on granting the Commonwealth of Independent States the status of an Observer to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, on a new version of the Regulations on the CIS Human Rights Commission, as well as a draft Protocol on Amendments to the CIS Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms dated 26 May 1995.

The Foreign Ministers approved the Plan of Multi-level Ministerial Consultations for 2023, which includes the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus to hold consultations on topical issues of interaction with the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

It was decided to hold the next meeting of the CIS Ministerial Council on April 14, 2023 in Tashkent.

print version